Tributes and accolades poured in for Ukrainian tennis star Alexandr Dolgopolov as he bid goodbye to tennis at the age of 32, but it was a message from Roger Federer which stood out among all that flooded his social media handles on Saturday.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion left a glowing comment to the Ukrainian’s Instagram post announcing his retirement.

Congratulating Dolgopolov on a “great career”, Federer relived all the “fun” they had on practice courts and thanked him for some golden memories.

Roger Federer says he admired Alexandr Dolgopolov’s amazing court skills

Federer added that he admired the Ukrainian’s skills on court and so did his coaching staff.

“Congratulations on a great Career, thanks for all the fun times on the practice courts and team RF always loved watching you play and you know that,” the champion wrote.

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Federer has a 5-0 head-t0-head record against Alexandr Dolgopolov

Wishing him well for what’s ahead, Federer said he hoped the two would cross paths again before long.

“Take care, best regards and hopefully we see each other again. All the best for what’s to come Dog,” the six-time Australian Open champion wrote.

The Ukrainian attributed his decision to call time on his career to persistent pain from a wrist injury that he sustained in the 2018 Australian Open.

He said he underwent two surgeries in two years to fix his injury, but the pain didn’t go away.

Dolgopolov finished with three career Tour titles, two of which came on clay courts.

Friendly sparring on practice courts apart, he was involved in five head-to-head clashes with the champion, with Federer winning all five matches.

“My wrist injury happened in Australia (three years ago) after mis-hitting a return in practice. I felt pain but nothing serious. I reached the Australian Open third round and returned to Europe, but I never realized that it would be career-ending,” the 32-year-old said of the injury that cut his career short.

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He added that though he didn’t set any tennis records, he is happy to have entertained his fans with his tennis.